Solutions for the “Indoor Generation”

There has been a recent movement, seen through the #IndoorGeneration, that’s taking a look at our current society and pointing out the issues surrounding our heavily indoor-based lifestyles. How heavy?  Well, the average person believes they spend around only 67% of time indoors, when in actuality, they’re undershooting by a whopping (or disturbing) 23%. But the real issue is that as a result of the abundance of time we spend indoors, we are exposed to significantly negative effects of a dimly lit home with poor air quality. The #IndoorGeneration movement has stated that such effects from lack of daylight can include limiting learning abilities by 15%, and creating feelings of sadness (reported by 15% of the people queried). And living in homes that are damp and moldy from limited light and lack of fresh air can increase the risk of asthma by 40%.

Sounds bleak? Sure. But it doesn’t have to be that way, even if we spend the majority of our time indoors. (But really, you might need to get out more.) So what can you do to prevent the causes of all those issues? Well, you have a few options, one of which is to add more daylight into your home. And we recommend doing it through the use of tubular daylighting, especially because it avoids the heat, leakage, and need for structural modifications to your home that comes with skylights. Natural light is important for your home, and Tubular daylighting brings natural light in through a dome on your roof that captures daylight, no matter the position of the sun. The light is then funnelled through a tube that employs the world’s most reflective material to move it through your attic and deliver beautiful, natural light to the spaces below. The benefit? Studies have shown that bringing natural light indoors increases learning capabilities and personal productivity while simultaneously boosting health and happiness.

And what about the stale air in your home that can be full of pollutants? An option to address these ills of the “Indoor Generation” is replacing the stale air with fresh, clean air by using a Whole House Fan, installed in your attic. The fan sucks the hot air containing allergens and other unhealthy particles from your living spaces through a vent in the ceiling and continuously pushes it outside your home through vents in your attic. At the same time, it brings cool, fresh air in through your windows to take its place. And not only does the Whole House Fan allow for the reduction of harmful air, but it also significantly cuts the cost of cooling your home.

So where do you get these solutions to address the negatives of the “indoor generation”? It turns out that you can get both tubular daylighting and Whole House Fans from one place: Solatube. The company is the innovator and leader in tubular daylighting, and it has a long history in ventilation as well, originally installing attic fans and now delivering Whole House Fans. With one phone call, you can set up free consultations for daylighting and Whole House Fans, and get installation done in one day, often in less than 2 hours. If you are interested in bringing natural light and cool, fresh air into your home, you can call us today or fill out an online form and a member of the team will be in touch.